Online Communities Are Valued by People With Type 1 Diabetes for Peer Support: How Well Do Health Professionals Understand
This?

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, incurable, and life-threatening metabolic illness. Management demands of the condition are complex
and intensive, and clinical management requires a specialist multidisciplinary team.1,2

Despite the support of health providers, the daily management tasks of type 1 diabetes are all actions that people with diabetes
must carry out themselves to prevent acute and chronic physical complications. This responsibility may bring with it significant
psychological strain.3 Furthermore, although health outcomes are controllable to a significant extent, fluctuations in health status are inevitable,
and complications can befall even the most diligent illness managers. The resulting uncertainty and knowledge of the potential
for death or disability can compound the psychological strain.4 There can also be a tangible burden associated with the considerable time, energy, and focus required to establish and maintain
metabolic control, which places considerable strain on patients' ability to attend to occupational, social, familial, and
personal needs and desires.3,5–8 Social stigma may also be associated with carrying out the demands of diabetes management.

Together, these experiences often leave individuals with diabetes feeling isolated from members of their immediate social
network who may fail to understand their daily experiences. Seeking connection with others with the same medical condition
is one strategy that people in this situation pursue, and the resulting process has been termed “peer support.”9

Peer support has been defined as assistance by a person who has experiential knowledge of the specific health issue and similar
characteristics as the target population.10,11 Fisher12 describes peer support's role in health behavior change as assisting people with chronic disease to translate a plan developed
with or by a health professional into action.

Peer support can be delivered in many different forms. As theories for implementing …